The history of the glory of the Lord and the temple in Jerusalem makes for a fascinating story. This is one of those subplots of the Bible that we find woven across many books and in both Testaments. It is a complex relationship full of tension, betrayal, despair, exile, and unforeseen hope.

Exile is not simply political or geographical or economic. Exile is the absence of God in you and you in God.

In this message, which is a part of the series The Hope of God’s People at Grace Church, I tell the part of the story that is most relevant to the Christmas season. Building on the temple construction and dedication stories of 1 Kings 8 and Ezra 6, I follow the story through the eyes of Ezekiel, the prophet in exile. His prophecies portend both doom and glory, a relationship broken beyond repair and yet one that holds the possibility of hope for future reconciliation.

The story finds its resolution in a dramatic and unexpected way. An unforeseen fulfillment of Ezekiel’s final prophecy leads us to an exciting new hope and a new way of finding our way home.

This past Sunday we finished up our series A People of His Very Own at Grace Church. I was fortunate enough to preach the last message of the series, which was on the shared mission of God’s people. As I understand it, God’s mission is new creation, and he wants to partner with human beings, both to make them new, and, through them, to make all things new. The impetus for the message came from a question I asked in the other sermon I preached in the series, Eyes Up. Here is the question:

Will you still follow Jesus when it dawns on you that he has not come to fill the God-shaped hole in your heart, but rather to call you, together with all the saints, to fill the cross-shaped hole in the world?

In other words, are you still going to be committed to Jesus when you finally understand that his top priority is not to meet your needs, but rather to equip you and call you to fulfill his mission in the world, in the same way that he fulfilled it? The primary text for the sermon was Matthew 10:38, but I also went to 2 Corinthians 5:17-20 and 2 Corinthians 6:3-10.

There is a God-breathed kind of life that is ours for the taking, but it can only be found when we lay down this self-centered life to which we cling.

The thing that I was most fortunate to take from my sermon prep was the time I spent listening to the stories of how people at Grace have been walking out this mission, and how God is, in turn, causing his kingdom to grow in our neighborhood. The things that Jesus said about God’s kingdom really are true. You sow a small seed and you reap a massive harvest. You do your work, and the kingdom grows without you knowing it, or, sometimes, even seeing it. While I’ve been living in Boston and Columbus for the past ten years, God has been at work in the church where I grew up in powerful and transformative ways. I’m grateful that I now get to be a part of that work as both a participant and a pastor.

Something I said in my sermon Eyes Up resonated with the staff here at Grace, and so I’ve been asked to preach a message that elaborates on it. Here’s the quote:

Will you still follow Jesus when it dawns on you that he has not come to fill the God-shaped hole in your heart, but rather to call you, together with all the saints, to fill the cross-shaped hole in the world?

The obvious text that communicates this (besides the one from which I was preaching at the time – Luke 9:57-62) is Matthew 10:37-39. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me.

The first thought that struck me was this: The world needs cross-bearers, not because it is bloodthirsty and eager to kill those whom God sends (though it is those things), but because it must be shown, at all costs, the way to New Creation.